“So this is where we are: We’re two years into this investigation, we’re a year and a half into the presidency. We’re over a year into special counsel.”

Thus said Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican from South Carolina, about the probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that has dragged on for over a year.

His comments came during a June 27 testimony from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before the House Judiciary Committee. And if his other remarks can be believed, then matters are incredibly worse than what has been reported.

“We’ve seen the bias,” he said. “We need to see the evidence. There’s an old saying that justice delayed is justice denied. I think right now, all of us are being denied.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, another Republican, echoed his sentiments in the same bitter exchange. “I think in a few minutes,” said Jordan, “the House of Representatives is going to go on record saying you have not complied with requests from a separate and equal branch of government, that you haven’t complied with subpoenas, and you got seven days to get your act together.”

A few minutes later, that’s what happened. The House voted to subpoena the FBI — again — for documents pertaining to Mueller’s investigation that appears to grope blindly for signs of collusion with the Kremlin by the Trump campaign office, giving them a Monday evening deadline.

The fact that this was even a possibility ought to frighten and disturb every American from every side of the political spectrum.

Why? Because who wants to live in a world where the FBI has to be forced by a court order to be honest about its findings when investigating the president?

On record, there have been numerous subpoenas issued by the House to the FBI in the last two years — all involving either Russian collusion or Clinton’s emails. Each one has been resisted, and multiple orders to appear before Congress have been ignored. Let’s hope this next one is met with transparency.

Rep. Gowdy agrees, calling anti-Trump texts between agents a horrendous display of bias. “You have more bias,” he said, “than I have ever seen manifest in a law enforcement officer in the 20 years I used to do it for a living.” He then went on to mention four DOJ employees “who had manifest animus towards the person they were supposed to be neutrally and detachably investigating.”

A biased investigation has no place in law enforcement. And as for an investigation that has yielded no actual findings? What’s the point of continuing if not to satisfy a confirmation bias?

Perhaps the worst thing about the Mueller operation is the effect it is having on Congress and on the American people. During Wednesday’s hearing, Gowdy further drilled Rosenstein, blaming the investigation for polarizing Congress and further dividing America.

“There’s a presumption of guilt, there’s a desire by Democrat senators to fund raise off your investigation. More than 60 Democrats have already voted to proceed with impeachment…More than 60 have voted to move forward with impeachment, and [Mueller] hasn’t presented his first finding!”

“Russia attacked this country,” Gowdy continued. “They should be the target. But Russia isn’t being hurt by this investigation right now. We are. This country is being hurt by it. We are being divided.”

In compliance with the House’s latest subpoena, Rosenstein and Mueller ought to be honest with us, and in the words of Trey Gowdy, “Whatever you got, finish it the hell up, because this country is being torn apart.”

The Gazette editorial board